Knowing how to express correctly will help new mothers retain breast milk and feed their baby with it for as long as possible. There are several myths about pumping, it is very important to be able to separate them from reality.
How much milk should a nursing mother have?
There is no specific norm for the amount of breast milk in a lactating woman. Usually, the more the baby eats, the more milk the mother has and arrives. If the baby does not differ in appetite and the mammary gland is full, an inhibitor substance begins to be produced that suppresses milk production.
Thus, in order to prevent the cessation of breastfeeding, it is necessary to express milk. Expressing more often, just like latching a baby to the breast, can increase the amount of breast milk.
The supply-demand formula for the amount of milk will help the mother decide whether she needs to express or not. If your baby is healthy and breastfeeding well, then pumping is not necessary.
The dangerous myth about pumping to the last drop
It is believed that to increase lactation, you need to express milk to the last drop after each feeding. Doctors unequivocally say that such procedures are dangerous, as they lead to hyperlactation and increase the likelihood of lactostasis and mastitis.
Frequent pumping to the last drop is also harmful to the child, because in this case he receives milk unsaturated with nutrients and vitamins.
When is pumping necessary
- If your baby has problems sucking, you need to express your breast milk to bottle feed your baby.
- If the mother needs to leave the baby for a long time, someone else can feed the baby with expressed milk.
- If the mother cannot temporarily breastfeed (illness, taking medications, etc.), the arriving milk must be regularly expressed and poured out.
- If the mother cannot feed the baby due to breast problems (cracked nipples, mastitis, lactostasis), milk must be expressed and stored in bottles.
How to express breast milk
The best result for increasing lactation is given by frequent (at least six times a day) pumping with intervals of no more than six hours between them. Simultaneous feeding and pumping is allowed. Sucking milk from one breast leads to more fluid flow to the other.
The same effect can be seen with double pumping. In this case, a breast pump will help. If for one reason or another you do not want to use this device, you can manually express. How to do it correctly and without harm to your health will be taught by midwives in the maternity ward.
Stress, lack of time, and a bad mood slow down the flow of milk, so choose to pump when everything is calm at home and you are not in a hurry.
Before pumping, take a warm, comfortable shower and pat dry with a towel. Warmth and gentle massage will increase the volume of breast milk.
